20 thoughts on “Morsi Assumes Absolute Power – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. As far as I can see, none of the western interventions (regime changes) in the Middle East changed something to the better?
    Question: If Egypt open border-crossings to Gaza, would’nt that made the Israeli sea-blockade of Gaza senseless? If so, was it part of the ceasefire-agreement or not? Could’nt find it in the german press…

  2. If your scenario is correct and Egypt becomes much more hostile to Israel, then what possible reason would the Palestinians have to make peace with Israel, since they could now look for help, possibly military or other, from Egypt, which they didn’t get from Mubarak, figuring that time is now working more in their favor?

    1. Precisely why Israel should make a deal now. Instead of worrying so much whether the Palestinians will or won’t be willing to make a deal, you’d do better to worry about why your own government refuses to do now what you’re complaining the Palestinians won’t be prepared to do sometime in the future.

  3. I personally find Morsi utterly unpredictable, and Egyptian politics a mixture of comedy and tragedy. If Morsi thought his recent success at brokering the ceasefire would shield him from opprobrium over this latest stunt, he sadly misread the amount of support he’s got.

    I think he is trying to get rid of the felool but becoming a dictator just ain’t the way it should be done. Democracy should not allow a leader to take powers for himself as he wishes. (Someone also should explain this to Obama.)

    Hard to believe we’ll be seeing Mubarak tried again. I see no sense in this. I just wonder why Morsi seems more intent on punishing the Brotherhood’s enemies than on taking care of the very serious problems Egypt faces.

  4. Not for nothing was Britain instrumental in the original formation of the Muslim Brothers. This is well-covered in Chapter 2 of Robert Dreyfuss’s, Devil’s Game: How the US helped unleash fundamentalist Islam (2005). Those in charge cannot solve anything real for the Egypian poor and working people, but they sure can play populist games by going after Mukarak again, etc. etc. Let’s see who has learned the essential lessons about this ‘revolution’.

    1. Not sure what you’re saying about Britain. But one thing you are missing is that the Brotherhood did not instigate or participate in the revolution. It was the secular liberals who are responsible for that, and the Brotherhood did not participate in any attempts to oust Mubarak but came to the game afterwards.

  5. When Israel has nukes and a vastly powerful “conventional” army (when did drones and cyber-virusy become “conventional”?), no Syria or Lebanon or Egypt (or Iran) can dare to attack her in a major way, although small (non-existential) attacks would be hard on Israel which has trained up its people to think that any attack at all (however small) is an enormity, something worth crying over and calling out “Holocaust” and other manifestations of “my life is worth thousands of their lives” and other presumably (modern?) Jewish ethical pronouncements.

    OTOH, the immediately past debacle seems to show [1] Iron Dome knocks down most rockets (at least it does when few are fired at one time) at high cost (as compared with the cost of home-made rockets), [2] a few missiles get through but at present Gaza doesn’t have tools to aim them (closely, narrowly) at military targets but there may be a bit of improvement in the imported rockets, and [3] a few rockets landing in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem persuades Israel that Gazan responses to its stupid and evil fish-in-a-barrel turkey-shoots are sufficiently dangerous to Israel that its worth making some sort of peace.

    As to Morsi, I have no idea where all this is going, but I fail to see how Egypt can be a danger to Israel. Look at 1956, 1967, 1973. Israel is stronger today than then. Perhaps the greatest danger for Israel is that Morsi will listen to the Egyptian “street” and amplify its voice internationally and among Arab states in particular.

    I can imagine Morsi voting for Palestinian membership in the UN (and of course for quasi membership) and even introducing a draft UNSC resolution calling for Israel to remove settlers, settlements, wall, on the (silly, old fashioned, nearly illicit grounds that they are present in OPTs illegally). Yes, I can imagine it, and Obama smiling to himself as he condemns it for AIPAC’s benefit.

  6. Egypt would not be a “danger” to Israel except within the sense that it is time for the occupation of Palestine to end. I don’t think Egypt alone could defeat Israel in an all-out war (of course, Egypt doesn’t have nuclear weapons, or does it have a “special relationship” with the US). But it will not take an all-out war to end this occupation.

    Morsi’s role will be to unite the region’s other countries (not necessarily all Arabs) and possibly beyond the region as well, to assert diplomatic pressure on Israel.

    That is, if he manages to stay in office.

    1. — ” it will not take an all-out war to end this occupation.”—

      what sort of war are you suggesting?

      You do recall that Egypt has waged war against Israel several times ?

      And you do recall that Egypt has not done very well?

      You do remember that Egypt had to ask for the return of Egyptian land that was lost because of the wars that they waged?

        1. yes, I do realize that……. it’s one of the interesting things that Israel prevailed decisively in the war of independence ….and again in 67……and still didn’t seek the type of victory that Israel could expect had it lost…and that you suggest they still could expect should they lose…

          some silly folks prattle on as if they’ve never considered these things.

          1. Well, Dub, you must also consider that those who fought in 1948 and 1967 are probably a little long in the tooth to fight a war in 2013.

            And some folks prattle on as if they’ve never considered how Hizbullah certainly gave Israel a run for its money back in 2006, and that for all its weaponry, the current IOF has no experience in doing anything other than bombing the hell out of unarmed civilians.

            You forget one more thing – that except for the ubiquitous US (which was not seriously interested in waging war on Iran), Israel has no allies who would support it militarily, which makes going to war unilaterally so incredibly stupid that it takes one’s breath away.

  7. Autocratic or democratically elected leaders in the Arab/Muslim world of today must exercise power carefully or risk Mubarak’s fate. Morsi, however he turns, knows he cannot ignore the popular demands of his peoples without great risk.

    Autocracy, pre ‘Arab Spring’ style has been overturned in most Middle Eastern capitals and tenuously hanging on the vine where governments are rich enough to bribe their peoples. Clearly, a ‘new world order’ is arising in the M/E post the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

    It should be understood that revolutions are messy, long term affairs. The American revolution was a near run thing for nearly 40 years; 8 of war and another 30 + of economic chaos, grave political stasis, Indian and foreign wars and entanglements. An era of great uncertainty that did not ease until after 1814. And as for the French Revolution its popularly said its still to early to close the books on that affair.

    I believe the US battle command to invade Iraq on 19 March 2003 will prove an even greater ‘strategic disaster’ to Israel than to the US. The outcomes of massive US interventionism within and across the landscapes of the Arab world has not materialized as Zionists imagined and hoped it would. All the propaganda and the yapping of barking dogs cannot conceal the fact its been a down hill racer for Zionists with eyeballs plastered to windshields in horror and disbelief.

    “…Best to sue for peace and get the best deal possible before things get worse…”

    This is a brutal truth Israelis had best wake up to before its too late. They are in fact getting weaker not stronger, as Military power and threats of “breaking bones” have become the weakest of reeds in their quiver of intransigence. It was presumed that a great power like the US would have to force Israel off the path to destruction. That’s been proved false. At the end of the day the US will not save Israel. Israel must save Israel. For them its either 2 states or NO state. Its either all this or its all that.

  8. @ mary—- “And some folks prattle on as if they’ve never considered how Hizbullah certainly gave Israel a run for its money back in 2006”

    they did very well in holding off Israeli attacks against prepared positions…….aside from that, Lebanon was greatly damaged and Israel was not.

    should there be another round, with Hezbollah in control of the Lebanese government, you can expect that Israel will suffer more damage from Hezbollah’s rockets, and also expect that Hezbollah will fare much worse and lebanon will suffer even greater damage.

    hopefully, there will not be another round of fighting as it’ll benefit no one.

    1. Israel wasn’t damaged? Tell that to those living in the north whose forests were denuded by fires and those villages and cities in which people died & homes were destroyed.

      Hezbollah is not “in control of the Lebanese government.” It sits in a coalition in parliament in which it is not the majority party. But hey, why let facts get in your way?

      There certainly will be another round of fighting. In fact, many rounds. You might as well get ready. Maybe some day you’ll place blame where it belongs, on your own benighted leaders.

      1. [comment deleted for comment rule violation–comment is off-topic and it isn’t even clear what you’re referring to or refuting other than seeking to post an anti-Hezbollah diatribe]

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